The Boston Celtics are officially a second apron ball club as they gear up to contend for an NBA-record 18th title this season, and will thus need to take great care with the talent on the team around the margins with the Celtics needing to keep good players on cheap contracts around, which is no easy task even without the additional exigencies of trying to win a title.
Finding the right balance between players the front office ought to want to retain without also paying too much to do so is a fraught needle to thread for Boston moving forward, but one they will need to pull off if they want to stay in the title hunt.
And they will have to do it a total of as many as nine times in the 2024 NBA offseason, with as many potential free agents looking at new deals; let’s take a look at who they are.